[MM3]Sunstormers IC

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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

Khemis
Hero Points: 1; Current Condition: Fine

"I totally agree about not patrolling for muggers, but on the other hand if I come across one, I'm not going to walk on by either," says Khemis consideringly.

"I've been the most public of any of us and as you've seen I've been spending my time volunteering my help, not anything else. Because I talked to people from the various charities and that seemed the best way to go. I have got into a few fights, but that has been with looters and thieves trying their luck, not because I patrolled for them. Like you say, there's just too much risk of accusations of excessive violence. Especially if more of the cops are like Officer Palladino! Even with Harold I only restrained him rather than tried to punch him out for exactly that reason. And that's probably a good way to keep going forward if we can..."

"I also had a plan. Unfortunately it has also gone out of the window..." she says rather sadly.

"And as for knowing anyone super-smart, no. The only Sunstormers I have met are you guys, Harold and the lovely Officer Palladino. But I would imagine we could find someone - someones - just normally smart? There must be people in charities, the universities, maybe even government, who could help us plan things out? Maybe not government."
jmucchiello
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by jmucchiello »

"Unfortunately, it seems like we need to keep doing what we are doing and wait and see what comes next," Deborah says.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

"I guess so," agrees Khemis.
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

//Alright, we will move on soon (either Friday or Sunday. Sorry for the delay but the timeskip post will be a bit longer and right now I barely have the time to write more than one or two paragraphs at a time).
jmucchiello
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by jmucchiello »

After an awkward silence, Deborah says, "I guess we don't have anything else. And it's cold out here."
kenmadragon
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by kenmadragon »

Sunny

Sunny had remained quiet, for a moment as the awkward silence hung over them. He hadn't wanted to interrupt the others, and several reputable sources told him that he ought to give others the chance to speak and be heard if he wished for his own ideas to be heard. Even if he wanted to argue some of their points, this didn't feel like the time nor the place for that. Besides, even if he disagreed with some of the things they said, he didn't know how to phrase the arguments his heart was telling him to make.

Charger was right - none of them had training to be superheroes, they had no support from official organizations to lend them legitimacy, the world was in no shape to accept a calm and easy transition into the new reality of super-people among humanity, and they were all flying by the seat of their pants, hoping for the best as they did whatever they pleased with only the best of intentions at heart.

Even so, Sunny desperately wanted to tell her she was wrong. It wasn't a logical feeling - it was purely emotional, and Sunny knew it. But, again, Charger was right. None of them had a plan for any of this. If they got involved and used their superpowers recklessly, diving into situations unasked for, improvising everything... it was a disaster waiting to happen. But doing that very thing, rushing into danger headfirst because your heart is screaming at you to do something, was what defined the superhero in most media. And being a superhero was the best way Sunny could see about rapidly changing public opinion, and giving definitive proof to the people that Sunstormers weren't monsters in human skin, but people who could be counted on to help for the common good.

But Deborah was also right in that the public opinion could also be fickle, and that acting like superheroes could also be a bad thing... though she also brought up a good point about natural disasters. Was it wrong that, for only a millisecond, Sunny hoped for one that he could stop and show the people of the world the good that his powers could do?


The silence held on for too long. Sunny sighed.

"I suppose you're all right about not having a plan for any of this. Since we all got these powers, I've done my best to be as careful as I can, especially with my strength and speed. And I can't deny that I've gone out 'patrolling' the skies since I figured out how to fly. The people of the world are scared. Everything is uncertain. I just think it'd be a good thing if people had heroes to look up to. Something to show them that there was good to come out of the Sunstorm, and not just the chaos it left in its wake." Sunny said, softly.

"...But I still think we should keep in touch. Because if any of you need help, I'm more than happy to fly over and lend a hand. Even if you just need help moving a couch. Or someone to talk to about if you wanna vent about your powers or whatever."
OOC wrote:Sorry, had a severe case of food poisoning over the weekend and it seems that while I was indisposed, Chrome decided to update while my post was still in the editor... and I never did get the hang of making drafts properly. This is shorter but hopefully more direct to the point.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

Khemis
Hero Points: 1; Current Condition: Fine

"I completely agree," Khemis tells Sunny seriously. "Both about giving people heros to look up to, and about our keeping in touch. And the offer of help goes both ways too. I am here if you need me."
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

Time passes...

In world as much in turmoil as Earth past-Sunstorm, three weeks are a long time indeed. Most of the changes around the world seem far away, but slowly, shockwaves do reach Chicago, accumulating little hiccups in reality until you wake up one day and the world seems a totally different place.

Week 1:

Around 4 days after the last meeting, a MASSIVE explosion rocks Hong Kong, demolishing a sixth of the metropolis and killing thousands. China is clamping down on information about the incident, but all evidence points to the usage of a lot of mundane explosives. Nonetheless, the PR is accelerating their persecution of Uigurs who are suspected to be Sunstormers, eventually escalating it to a full-on genocide attempt. Signs point to a burgeoining resistance led by at least one Sunstormer, however.
There is an international uproar, but China, as always, ignores it.

Three days later, footage begins to circulate that shows Hollywood actor Tom Cruise wide awake during the three-day coma period, putting an end to his own carefully maintained insinuations that he might have developed Sunstormer powers.

A gang shootout in LA ends with several bystanders dead when both sides unleash Sunstormer powers. Further investigations point to an individual calling himself " The Dealer" who is apparently able to grant short-term Sunstormer powers to others as part of his own powerset.
The Dealer manages to disappear before he can be apprehended.

Week 2:
The British coal mine in Tairgwaith, South Wales, is being attacked by an armored individual calling himself the "Green Knight" who apparently has some control over plant matter. He demolishes a part of the mine before declaring that, if the British government is not willing to put an end to fossil fuels, he will take care of it. Prime Minister Johnson immediately declares that eco-terrorism of any kind will not be tolerated. The police is told to crack down on any radical environmentalist groups.

All over the South American continent, broadcasts of all kinds are interrupted by a short video showing a female figure in shadows proclaiming that the endemic violence against women will no longer be accepted without retribution. The " Mothers of Peace" will put an end to anyone who mistreats women. Two days later, there is a coordinated attack by an unknown party on several human trafficking operations as well as several severe beatings and even murders of men who had previously been guilty of violence against women. The efficacy and coordination of the attacks suggest some kind of Sunstormer involvement.

Several costumed vigilantes have popped up all over the world by now, likeLe Chasseur in Paris, Shadowking in New York, Vergelter in Berlin or Hod in Jerusalem. The police is at a loss at how to deal with these vigilantes. Also, superhuman crime is starting to take off, which puts another question before the authorities...where to put superhuman delinquents?

On a positive side, electricity has mostly been restored to the greater Chicago area, along with heating. It's still all a bit slapdash and there are still outages here and there but it's a far cry from how it was right after the Sunstorm.

Week 3:

The FBI headquarters in Washington DC is attacked by a Sunstormer with the ability to project or create short-lived malformed copies of himself that each have Sunstormer powers. 34 people die before the attacker can be subdued. Witnesses testify that, before the attack, he calmly said " Q sent me".

Harold is found dead in his cell, apparently having somehow managed to immolate himself. His demise is ruled a suicide but there are enough rumors of either negligence or abuse to raise the tension in the city.

.....
It is now Thursday evening. What are you folks doing?
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Shadowmask
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Shadowmask »

https://youtu.be/iJNfMSIEdQE

Helen lowered the volume as she drove in her police car downtown, watching as the sun sank slowly into the horizon, since her semi public reveal as a sunstormer, she had gotten few people in the force willing to partner with her. Which suited her just fine as the brass will shove some unlucky stiff onto her lap as a sort of punishment detail anyway.

The latest news all over the world was kind of disheartening but at the same time not a big deal to Paladino.

Let the world handle their own problems, she had enough to deal with the city of Chicago to really care what happens outside the United States. Her only regret is that she didn't personally get to see Harold kill himself.

Helen would have prolonged his dying if she had her way.

Good riddance to the murdering scumbag. May he burn forever in Hell.

The so called joint "task force" with the police department and the FBI mostly existed in conversation or on paper and was regarded as a desperate attempt on the part of the feds to save face after the psycho Harold's rampage at the plaza although the recent attack in Washington supposedly sped up funding toward said taskforce with BATF and now Homeland Security throwing in their support as well.

Of course now the capture and containment of out of control sunstormers became such a top topic in government circles. It was easy for the fans to cheer these so called 'heroes' on; but they won't be cheering for long once they themselves become the victims.

Helen was sent to Washington DC about a week before the Washington massacre, showing off her powers before politicians. It was a task she loathed but at least Uncle Sam paid for the first class round trip plane ride and rooms at a fancy hotel during her stay there. The Committee had looked at the uncouth street cop who wore no costume but her police uniform proudly and answered to no superheroic codename with mixed feelings of mild amusement and apprehension.

Now, it's mixed feelings of mistrust, fear and desperate need. The sunstormers are no longer novelty acts for the nerds. They were a real threat.

The biggest difficulty in setting up the currently non existent taskforce was staff.

Locating and recruiting sunstormers to police their own kind was extremely unlikely considering that most of the freaks will be in it for themselves instead of the public good. If they were smart then they'll stay off the radar.

The feds would have to dangle a much better carrot for the recruits besides money.

But that's Uncle Sam's problem, not Paladino's.

Of course Helen had a few potential recruits in mind.

It meant going off the rails. What was needed was realists who can get the job done no matter how unpleasant it is, not whiny moral idealists who only saw the cold ugly world with rose colored glasses though they will have to do in a pinch…

"Workin' on some Night Moves..." she sang softly to herself.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

Khemis
Hero Points: 1; Current Condition: Fine

During the night following the meeting with the others, Khemis composes an email to the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center identifying herself as a Sunstormer and outlining her concerns that without some legal backup Sunstormers may be 'othered' or otherwise discriminated against purely for what they are, not what they have done. In effect, becoming victims of a kind of racism. There are already conspiracy theories out there that paint Sunstormers as monsters worthy only of extermination, and she would be amazed if parts of the US government are not already working on controlling or otherwise acting against Sunstormers.

As such she would like to meet with someone from each of their organisations to discuss finding a way forward to ensure that Sunstormers do not become second class citizens in their own country, or are otherwise oppressed, before anyone actually tries doing so. She does not want anyone to try putting together a Sunstormer equivalent of the Homan Square Facility. And she does not find the historial and current attitudes of the Chicago Police Department to be encouraging in this regard!

She is concerned about this not only as a Sunstormer herself, but because unlike other minorities that the US authorities have oppressed over the years, and only existing in very small numbers, Sunstormers potentially have the ability to fight back against or escape from the authorities as individuals. Perhaps be living weapons of mass destruction. This is not something she wants to risk happening so setting up some kind of legal framework to account for them sounds like a good idea...

The same thing might happen if there was a knee-jerk reaction against Sunstormers if one were to go one some kind of major rampage, over and above what Harold did. It could be like the upswing of Islamophobia after 9/11, but against people with super-powers. Which she thinks would end badly.

There are enough fictional examples of people with extraordinary powers finding themselves exploited and outside the protection of the law. How can Sunstormers avoid this? Are there any laws relating to concealed carry of guns that might provide a starting point?

Also, she has heard hints that some Sunstormers may have mental powers that allow them to control others. How would the law be expected to cope with such things? Or even prove they happened at all?

She BCC's this on to Deborah, Sunny and Charger as well.

----

Over the following weeks she meets with representatives of all three organisations to discuss the problems she would like to preemptively avoid, leading to the initiation of a number of legal challenges and court cases against unconstitutional or otherwise illegal or discriminatory policies at all levels of the US government.

One legal angle for the protection of Sunstormers that they begin working on is under the umbrella of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since the Sunstorm changes are something that was inflicted by an outside agency (like a medical condition caused by exposure, which it essentially is) rather than something related to religion, culture, or beliefs, there is a case to be made for people with them being protected by it. They hope that if the groundwork can be laid early to lobby for protections under the ADA then this can be put in place before other legislation tries to cover Sunstormers in a different, and perhaps more hostile, way.

She also gets lot of help from the online person identifying as 'Lawscribe98'.

----

Thinking about the return to university when it should finally happen, Khemis - or rather, Karima Ech-Chergui - reluctantly begins wearing a burqa when out and about as her normal human self. When she needs to, she explains this to others as coming from the impact the Sunstorm has had on her beliefs.
Last edited by Tony Jones on Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

Khemis
Hero Points: 1; Current Condition: Fine

Khemis emails Deborah, Sunny and Charger, letting them know the current state of her investigation.
Khemis wrote: I have received reports of people seeing or being contacted by Nemesis all around the world. Stirring up the same kind of trouble as she has been here. Not all Sunstormers are seeing her though. I assume none of you have? I am trying to figure out any common threads, a common type of person she is appearing to. I'll let you know what I find out.

K
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

Khemis
Hero Points: 1; Current Condition: Fine

On the 8th of February, Khemis sends another email about what she has found out so far to Deborah, Sunny and Charger, and separately to Lawscribe98.
Khemis wrote: I've collated all the reports of Nemesis, and there are some trends. She seems not to appear to Sunstormers who have any kind of light-based powers, regardless of anything else like mental problems. I wonder if she has some sort of vulnerability to light-based attacks? Pity none of us seem to have light powers!

She appears more to Sunstormers with with darkness-based powers, and to those like me whose body has changed permamently, or those who can change their bodies in one way or another.

But that's clearly not the whole, as there seem to be exceptions to that 'rule'.

Here's a spreadsheet that covers what I've learned so far.

<<attached spreadsheet>>

I can't help wondering whether the attack on the FBI was someone she had twisted. But there's no evidence for it. And if I'm not careful I'll be seeing her as behind everything Sunstormer-related...

K
Last edited by Tony Jones on Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

Khemis
Hero Points: 1; Current Condition: Fine

Having helped out a couple of times in the first week after the Sunstorm, Khemis has given her phone number to a few people in the Chicago Fire Department. With things calming down as the world recovers from the Sunstorm, she rings them again and offers her help on a more formalised basis, happy to take any courses or gain any certifications she might need to volunteer.

Unfortunately the CFD and the Chicago Fire Fighters Local No. 2 oppose the idea from the start, both due to anti-Sunstormer bias, and because of worry that having Sunstormers associated with the department might be used as an excuse to cut the numbers of normal firefighters. So it becomes a public safety issue. With barriers both official and unofficial being put in her way, Khemis reluctantly gives up on the idea, at least for the moment.

Still, she has read what she can find of the firefighters course materials, so she has much more of idea of their work than she did before. She knows she would easily pass the Candidate Physical Ability Test were she allowed to do so.

And of course, she fully intends to intervene if the situation should arise. But it would have been nice to be able to do it officially...
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

Khemis
Hero Points: 1; Current Condition: Fine

Khemis also checks up on Albert Jun from time to time over the three weeks.

In particular to make sure he recovers from being shot and is hopefully released from the hospital. But also to make sure he is not disappeared by sinister forces, not harassed by the police, and so on. She is not talking to him unless she feels she has to, but is keeping a discrete eye on him...
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

He takes a while to recover, but on the third week, he is released from the hospital, although still not in perfect shape. Unsurprising, he heads straight to his flat and appears unwilling to leave it again for the time being. Thanks to kindly neighbors, however, he won't starve any time soon.
As of right now, nobody seems to be after him.
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